Chihayaburu kami no yashiro shi nakariseba Kasuga no nobe ni awa makamashi o

ちはやぶる神の社しなかりせば
春日の野辺に粟蒔かましを

Roma-ji: Chihayaburu kami no yashiro shi nakariseba Kasuga no nobe ni awa makamashi o
English Translation: Of the mighty gods,
were there not a shrine standing,
then on Kasuga's
open fields I would sow millet—
would that I could meet you there.
Meaning: If only there were no shrine of the fearsome god, I would sow millet on the fields of Kasuga—and meet with you.
Commentary: Book Three Allegorical Poems 404

Headnote: "A poem by a young woman in reply to one sent by Saeki no Sukune Akamaro"
This poem belongs to the section of Allegorical Poems in Book Three. A young woman replies to Saeki no Akamaro's courtship. If only there were no god's shrine, she would sow millet (awa) on the fields of Kasuga—punning on awa, "to meet," she gently refuses: if you had no wife, I would meet you. The shrine is read as standing for Akamaro's wife. The author is recorded only as "a young woman," and her name has not come down.
The exchange between Saeki no Akamaro and a young woman is a sequence in which a married man's courtship and the woman's refusal are expressed through the shrine and the millet of Kasuga.

First line "Of the mighty gods" renders chihayaburu, a pillow word for "god."
Second line "were there not a shrine standing": shi is emphatic; the shrine stands for Akamaro's wife.
Third line: nakariseba is a counterfactual condition.
Fourth line "then on Kasuga's open fields": the plain east of the Heijō capital, where the Kasuga shrine stands.
Fifth line "I would sow millet": mashi is counterfactual, and awa (millet) puns on awa, "to meet."
Source: Manyoshu
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